


Because You're Unforgiven Too

by angelsandbrowncoats



Series: Metallica Songfics [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Cage!Fic, Gen, M/M, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-08
Updated: 2014-06-08
Packaged: 2018-02-03 20:38:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1756517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelsandbrowncoats/pseuds/angelsandbrowncoats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Michael and Lucifer unsuccessfully attempt to ignore each other in the cage. Based on Metallica's 'The Unforgiven II'</p>
            </blockquote>





	Because You're Unforgiven Too

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first thing I've ever written that's even close to romance, so please don't judge it too harshly. I would welcome any comments, though.

Lucifer and Michael sit on opposite sides of the cage, pointedly ignoring each other. Hell was hell and that was about as bad as it could get. But within the cage, it’s just their vessels off in one corner, and themselves sitting in corners across from each other and trying to forget the other’s existence.

 

_Lay beside me, tell me what they've done_

_Speak the words I wanna hear, to make my demons run_

_The door is locked now, but it's open if you're true_

_If you can understand the me, than I can understand the you_

 

While Michael sat there he recalled their time before Lucifer had betrayed Heaven-betrayed him. His brother was brighter than everyone. His wings shone beautifully with iridescent light. And mostly he sat on his favorite gate, playing the harp and singing. Occasionally he strolled through the gardens. And very, very rarely, he would sit with Michael on the edge of Heaven and watch as worlds, stars, solar systems, and galaxies formed around them.

He suspected Lucifer would be out there more, but Michael himself was fairly busy, and he knew his brother regarded it as ‘their’ thing. He would never go out there alone.

The eldest archangel flinched at the thought and the memory, drawing his pure white, but dull, wings closer around his form. He berated himself for feeling sad, feeling hurt, and most of all feeling guilt, when after all it had been _Lucifer_ who had betrayed _him_ , and most certainly not the other way around.

Even in his head though, the thoughts were empty. He knew. He knew it was his fault.

 

_Lay beside me, under wicked sky_

_The black of day, dark of night, we share this paralyze_

_The door cracks open, but there's no sun shining through_

_Black heart scarring darker still, but there's no sun shining through_

_No, there's no sun shining through_

_No, there's no sun shining…_

 

Lucifer’s wings were still just as beautiful as they’d always been, except that now they were sore and the feathers were off a bit, simply because of the time he’d spent in the cramped cage. The younger archangel saw his brother curl in upon himself, and he too flinched.

After millennia of being the devil, Lucifer was sure Michael thought he was going to torture him. Just thinking that his brother thought that of him made Lucifer cringe. He turned and buried his face in one of his wings, crying silently. How had they come to this? Hadn’t there been a time when it had just been the two of them, marveling at the universe?

Even if they somehow both wanted to go back to that-and Lucifer knew Michael didn’t, because why else would he have been so eager to kill his little brother?-the younger knew it could never be the same. He, for one, would never be able to trust Michael so completely again. There was a human phrase for that, he mused. ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.’ Michael had certainly fooled him into believing he loved him, once upon a time anyway. Lucifer wanted Michael to go back to that way, but even as he wished it he knew to believe it would be to be the fool, and as a prideful being, Lucifer avoided shame at all costs.

 

_What I've felt, what I've known_

_Turn the pages, turn the stone_

_Behind the door, should I open it for you...._

 

The only thing that pulled Michael from his cocoon of guilt was a faint sound. Peering over the tip of his wing, he glanced around only to see Lucifer sobbing. It made Michael curl up further, restraining himself from moving across the cage. After all this time, after everything Lucifer had done and said, Michael still just wanted to comfort him.

But he doubted his brother would even let him. Who knew what reimprisonment had done to his little brother’s mental state?

 

_What I've felt, what I've known_

_Sick and tired, I stand alone_

_Could you be there, 'cause I'm the one who waits for you_

_Or are you unforgiven too?_

 

Lucifer felt rather than saw his brother stir. Watching out of the corner of his eye, he saw Michael observing him, cowering in on himself. The younger archangel still didn’t know which was worse-Michael hating him or Michael fearing him. Both, he supposed, were equally painful.

He turned away more, trying to ignore the eyes he felt still on him, and he felt the cold wall of the cage press into his wing. Lucifer shuddered. _He had only just got out._ Some things really weren’t fair, but somehow, he felt more alone this time around than he had when his jail had been truly isolated.

 

_Lay beside me, this won't hurt I swear_

_She loves me not, she loves me still, but she'll never love again_

_She lay beside me, But she'll be there when I'm gone_

_Black heart scarring darker still, yes she'll be there when I'm gone_

_Yes, she'll be there when I'm gone_

_Dead sure she'll be there…_

 

Michael watched his brother closely, feeling a new bout of pain and guilt every time Lucifer gave some sign of despair. He was right, the reimprisonment had traumatized him in some way. And it was heart-wrenchingly obvious that both times he had been locked up, Michael had been to blame.

The first time, Michael recalled so clearly, Lucifer begging him for his help. Michael knew Lucifer was right-the humans were flawed and they didn’t deserve what their Father wanted them to have-but he had his orders and he refused to disobey. At the time, he thought Lucifer was betraying him-he thought he had overestimated how much Lucifer loved him-and it was a betrayal that fucking hurt. He channeled his hurt as contempt, calling Lucifer a monster and a freak. It wasn’t until much later that he began to realize that perhaps he hadn’t _overestimated_ Lucifer’s love, he had _underestimated_ it. And screw the universe, that realization hurt even more than the first. So much more, in fact, that he buried it. Pretended he hadn’t noticed it. Made up shit to counter it.

And then it was the apocalypse, and his orders were less clear than ever. Still, he was sure it was meant for him and Lucifer to fight to the death. Destiny was unavoidable, free will an illusion. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to survive the act of killing his brother, and deep down he hoped that Lucifer would win, just so he wouldn’t have to. But he literally _could not_ do anything else. So he tried to fight, even when his brother begged again. The only two times in his entire existence Lucifer had ever begged.

Michael wasn’t sure what was worse-if he had had to fight Lucifer to the death, or being proven that they didn’t have to right after he’d finally ‘justified’ all his actions to himself. He couldn’t shake the idea that he’d been willing to kill or be killed by his baby brother because of a prophecy that in the end _didn’t have to be fulfilled?_

So he kept his eyes fixed on Lucifer, trying to decide what to do with his newfound freedom from destiny.

_What I've felt, what I've known_

_Turn the pages, turn the stone_

_Behind the door, should I open it for you...._

 

They’d been like that for what felt like years when Lucifer finally had the courage-or perhaps the desperation-to approach his brother. He saw Michael’s eyes widen in shock, fear, and confusion as he sat down beside him.

“It’s damn cold in here, brother,” was all he said in response to the unasked question.

 

_What I've felt, what I've known_

_Sick and tired, I stand alone_

_Could you be there, 'cause I'm the one who waits for you_

_Or are you unforgiven too?_

 

Cautiously, Michael wrapped his significantly larger wings around the younger archangel. Now he had no idea what to think. He was sure Lucifer hated him, and with good cause, but here he was, sitting there in companionable silence, wings settled against the insides of the wider ones.

Michael knew Lucifer wasn’t apologizing. He knew Lucifer didn’t even regret what he’d done. And he knew Lucifer would do it again. He’d given Michael chance after chance to help him, to change, and all he’d ever gotten in return was rejection and disdain. It confused Michael to no end that his brother could endure all that and still be willing to at least partially forgive him. He’d never gotten the same courtesy in return.

He held his brother closer as he noticed the tears still streaming from his eyes, and Lucifer clung to him. Michael wasn’t sure if the younger remained in the present-it seemed as if he was having flashbacks of what he’d experienced in the cage from the last time. Remembering who put him there, Michael enveloped his brother completely with his wings, trying to comfort him.

It was impossible to tell if it truly worked, but after awhile Lucifer curled up against his side and fell asleep.

_Lay beside me, tell me what I've done_

_The door is closed, so are your eyes_

_But now I see the sun, now I see the sun_

_Yes now I see it_

 

It was strange, watching Lucifer sleep. Archangels didn’t need sleep in Heaven or on Earth, but the cage was different. Unlike every other time he’d seen him for the past few thousand years, Lucifer looked at peace. Once again he saw the young archangel as he’d been in Heaven, playing music, laughing, sitting among the plants, and watching the creation of life itself with Michael by his side.

How had it come to this? Michael wanted nothing more than to scream the phrase over and over until somebody answered him-his father, his brother, somebody. It was his last coherent thought before he too was forced to sleep by the odd workings of the cage.

 

_What I've felt, what I've known_

_Turn the pages, turn the stone_

_Behind the door, should I open it for you...._

 

When Lucifer opened his eyes, he was surprised to find himself wrapped in the arms of the older archangel. He hardly recalled going over there, and he’d been relatively convinced it was a dream. The younger, too, felt confusion as to why Michael had accepted him so suddenly. He couldn’t think of a single reason. Michael feared him in Hell and hated him for all eternity. He was disgusted by him. That much had been made clear early on, and it had only ever been reinforced.

Seeing Michael sleep, probably for the first time in his celestial existence, Lucifer couldn’t help but let a genuine grin slip onto his face. He could not honestly remember the last time he’d worn a real smile, and not a smirk or a charade.

 

_What I've felt, what I've known_

_Sick and tired, I stand alone_

_Could you be there, 'cause I'm the one who waits,_

_The one who waits for you...._

 

Michael stirred not long after, to find Lucifer staring off into the distance. He paused a moment before hesitantly asking, “What are you thinking about when you do that?”

Lucifer turned to him, registering that he was awake, and shrugged, “Usually I’m remembering the cage from last time. Sometimes I remember our battles.”

“You don’t think about Heaven, and the time before the fall?”

Lucifer glared at him in a way that screamed ‘how stupid are you’, “No, I don’t. What the hell would possess me to make me think of that?”

Michael arms dropped in defeat. He had known, long before his brother had crossed the cage, that Lucifer was not in the least bit repentant. That he was actually glad he’d chose that course of action.

“I always hoped…” he began, but trailed off abruptly. Lucifer raised an eyebrow, “Always hoped what?”

The eldest archangel took a deep breath, “I always hoped you missed Heaven. That you wished you were there again."

 

_Oh what I've felt, what I've known_

_Turn the pages, turn the stone_

_Behind the door, should I open it for you.... (So I dub thee unforgiven....)_

 

Lucifer’s other eyebrow shot up in surprise, “What makes you think I didn’t? Still don’t? Because let me tell you I did and I do. Why the fuck else would I not think about Heaven? I can’t stand the thought of it, knowing I can never go back.”

Thanks to you, he tried not to think.

Michael hugged him again, before whispering in his ear, “So did you really hate me?”

Lucifer was taken aback once again, “I’ve never hated you. Not even when the only thing I saw for months on end was you pushing me into the pit. I don’t think it’s possible for me to hate you.”

_Oh, what I've felt...._

_Oh, what I've known...._

 

Michael was glad he was already seated, because the words his brother uttered would have made his knees weak with their power. Every lie Michael had ever told to himself about his brother’s obsession with hate, with vengeance, with his only use for Michael to be manipulating him, unravelled and Michael was left only with the knowledge of what had been done to his little brother. Done by his own hand.

Had anyone else laid a finger on Lucifer, Michael would have smote them on the spot, or maybe tortured them, depending on how injured his brother was. Michael wanted nothing more than to protect his brother. In the end though, the only one who truly hurt Lucifer had been himself, and there was no punishment he could deliver. Nothing that he could do to himself would ever be what he deserved for what he’d done.

And here was Lucifer, telling him it was alright when it wasn’t damn well alright.

 

_I take this key (never free...)_

_And I bury it (never me...) in you_

_Because you're unforgiven too...._

 

His voice was strained with the pain behind the words, but Lucifer had to say them, “You know I can’t trust you like I did before. We’re both here, and we’ve both betrayed each other. Neither of our actions could or should be forgiven. We can’t go back to the way it was.”

He wanted Michael to tell him he was wrong. But the problem was, he was right.

 

_Never free...._

_Never me...._

_'Cause you're unforgiven too...._

  
Michael flinched at the words. He nodded, “You’re right. We’re both worse than every other being to tread in this universe,” he wanted to say that Lucifer was only that bad because of what _he’d_ done, but he knew it would bring the younger no comfort. Instead he smiled sadly at his brother, “We can’t go back to the way it was. So we’ll just have to find a new way.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me at singtheskyandfightlikehell.tumblr.com if you're interested


End file.
